Reviews by AleWatcher:

Bottle into Founders snifter. I don't know if others exist, but this is a 2012 vintage.

I think this was an extra from mnbearsfan, but I am not 100% on that.

Apricot colored body sits with a fluffy beige crown of 3 fingers loftily perched atop. Very thick lacing and strong retention. I prefer my barleywines to be a shade darker, but I will admit that this looks mighty fine.

Smells surprisingly light on the malt bill... I get a big herbal spicy hop note over a sugar-glazed-citrusy sweetness. Quite underwhelming.
The flavor is much the same, but with a very large booziness on the backend. Spicy, piny, and herbal hops dominate the profile... Overly boozy.

Feels thin and overcarbed.

Overall-- a rare miss from NG. I tend to really enjoy their offerings, especially the unplugged series... But this just lacks anything special.

More User Reviews:

Look: Pours a hazy orange-ish with a decent amount of bubbling on the inside. Off-white head that lingers and leaves a small amount of lacing on the glass.

Smell: Quite hoppy, even after 3 years. Not much else seems to get past that, maybe a little toffee.

Taste: More smooth than the overpowering hop smell would have indicated. A complex taste, some citrus notes, maybe a little sweetness to balance the hops. I like it better than Bigfoot, but not as much as barrel-aged barleywines such as CW.

Feel: Pretty clean, slight hoppy aftertaste and a slight stickiness.

Overall: Good. Would like to see a barrel-aged version of this appear. Could be intriguing.

Thanks to Mike for cracking this one; I always look forward to something I haven't had from New Glarus. This one has a shockingly light hue for a barley wine; deep golden yellow with a substantial haze throughout. The "head" fades insanely quick and settles as a stark-white ring around the top of the beer as it just sits, still and motionless.

The nose contains quite a bit of hops, especially considering the style. Florals, grassy hops, perfume, light citrus, tart lemon zest, and some herbs are spread out across a light blanket of some sticky caramel and toasted, bready malt.

The hop character seems to be a bit heavier than the malts, and the malts don't seem as dark or sweet as you think they'd be, considering the style. It almost reminds me of a super strong double IPA that's been sitting for a while and the hops have toned down to "not quite DIPA" levels.

Again, the first sip isn't screaming "barley wine", as the beer is actually quite hoppy. I've had hoppy barley wines, sure, but this one just doesn't seem to fit the style. Herbs, leaves, peppery, grassy, and full of underlying citrus; sweet and even mildly tart. Would be a pretty good hop bill for a D/IPA.

After a bit of some time, I finally start getting some barley wine essence; the malts open up and grow with warmth; sticky caramel, toffee, and quite a bit of sweet toast. There's also some apple-y sweetness in the finish that closes things out quite nicely, along with a subtle boozy warmth. The body is heavy and sticky like a barley wine should be, with minimal carbonation.

A little perplexing, that's for sure. Not quite the barley wine I was expecting, but it was still a pretty tasty brew. It took a while for me to come around to it, but in the end it was pretty good. Barley wine? Extra-malty DIPA? What's the difference, really? Far from New Glarus's best offering, but still worth a try.

Bit of a booze bomb, a sipping brew all the way. I can understand the brewers intention but it just does not hit me the right way fully. Fun to drink? Sure, just make sure you sip it or share a bottle ... that might be better.

O - Most different color ive seen in a barley wine. Missing the toffee malt backbone. Certainly a sipper at 12 abv. Very hop centered- no doubt its American. But the ripe pineapple isn't pleasant- far too sweet. Get no taste of the 'Toasty Graham cracker'. I am pretty disappointed in NG with this. Three more will certainly sit in the cellar. We'll check back in a few years. Hopefully this pineapple/booze can simmer down a bit.

An American strong ale. Big bubbly head on clear orange body. Lacey.Lots of orange aroma, and orange taste. Honeyish, caramel. Leaning on the bitter side with a hop bitter and dry finish. Lots of flavour, a dangerously drinkable beer, and a good high alcohol beer for a cold night.

This is the Unplugged Barleywine. NOT the Unplugged Iced Barleywine. 12oz. bottle poured into a Cigar City snifter. Shared with schen9303.

Pours a 1 finger fine white head with moderate retention. Beer is clear orange copper. Lacing is stringy and thick with little stick. Solid, especially given the style.

Nose is caramel, molasses, tree sap, citrus, and cane sugar. Nice and crisp but at the same time, lacking that certain robustness.

Opens sweet citrus, mango, and papaya. Tree sap and cane sugar in the middle. Pineapple. Caramel and sap hoppiness at the end. Finishes sweet caramel. Toffee in the aftertaste. Solid.

Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Bubbly and prickly in the mouth. The same going down. Messy finish with a lingering aftertaste. A bit thin.

A nice offering from New Glarus but overall, this one lacks the body and robustness required for the style. Not sure of the aging potential of this one. Still though, fresh, its a decent beer and worth trying.

Pours out a slightly dark orange in color with a tiny white head with little retention.

Smell is muted and hard to get much. I smell a little caremal and thats about it - just a tiny bit of sweetness. Taste is nice but nothing really not sticks out. There's definately some caremal sweetness, a tad bit of booze but really is hardly noticable (even at 12 ABV). I definately would drink this again but it really isn't anything I would seek out. Just nothing really great. Sure it's good but nothing better than average.

FWIW everybody seemed to rate this high and find charactoristics that I just couldn't. I do always seem to have signs of allergys so maybe that's affecting my review but I seem to always have that stuffy nose and can pick things out in most other beers.

appearance: pours a golden brown, translucent, with a 1" foamy white head. honestly, it looks like an octoberfest/marzen type of beer, if this was blind id be very surprised to find out this is a barley wine

aroma: i cant believe it, this is a barley wine, and i smell oranges. dont know how they pulled that one off. also a sweet background to it, nothing sticks out tho

palate: medium body, a little tangy/stingy on the tongue, sits well in the mouth tho, fairly smooth

taste: a great balance to this beer. i get the hops and citrus, but very toned down for each. everything about this looks and feels like an ipa, and then the graham cracker flavor hits you with some malty flavors that reminds you this is something special. well done NG!

overall: a very tasty and unique brew from wisconsin's best brewery! very happy they decided to release this one this year, hurry up and get it while it lasts!